Suspect in fatal arson arrested while setting another residential fire: Durham police
Written by The Canadian Press on April 7, 2026
COURTICE — Police say an Oshawa, Ont., man allegedly behind a fatal February arson was arrested last week while setting another residential fire.
Durham Region police say the 23-year-old faces several charges including manslaughter and two counts of arson.
Police say he had been on probation and barred from having any incendiary devices.
Police say they found the man using an improvised ignition device to start a residential fire in Courtice, Ont., on April 1.
No one in the house was hurt in that fire, but investigators then linked the suspect to a fatal fire in the same community earlier this year.
On the night of Feb. 22, emergency crews responded to a residence engulfed in flames near Nash and Varcoe roads and found 78-year-old Gerald Schad dead inside.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2026.
The Canadian Press